If you visit this website often enough, you’ll learn something about me. A lot of my photography experience and learnings have come from the time I’ve spent hiking and shooting the White Mountains in New Hampshire. During that time one of my favorite destinations to hike towards has been Lonesome Lake. In January 2023 I finally hiked to the lake in the winter. It was magnificent.
First Steps
I raced up the roughly 1000′ of elevation gain to catch the sunrise. The speed wasn’t enough to get me there in time, but I still got great light as I was only a few minutes late. What I did notice once I’d arrived was the wonderful light catching the clouds behind the bank of trees immediately to my right – but to frame this image I’d have to step onto the frozen lake.
Consciously I knew I would be safe. The lake is situated at a high altitude in a region known for it’s rough and cold winters. The ice had enough accumulated snow that I knew it’d been frozen for some time. Subconsciously I was afraid of falling through. I went for it and took the shot I’d seen from the shore. At the same moment a large trekking group began crossing the lake towards me. Upon their complete cross I knew the path they took would be safe. I would not pass up the unique vantage points going farther out into the lake would offer me, and I began marching across the ice.
Vanishing Point
Upon stepping further out, I found a new view of the trees in the right hand side of this composition. They served as a good anchor point combined with the shrinking tree-line framing Mount Cannon. I setup my tripod – focused on the trees and took the shots I used to then stitch into this panorama. (To see a higher quality version of this image, click here).
Upon nearing the middle of the frozen Lonesome Lake, I paused to take a view of the scene around me. These four trees stood out to me as a good subject. I lined them up balancing the three on the left against the one on the right with the negative space of the inverse of the trees balancing out the scene well and took my final image.
Thanks for joining me as I reflected on this morning’s photographs. Lonesome Lake is an incredible microcosm of the nature New England has on offer. There are boggy parts, rolling rivers and waters, towering mountains, and stunning forests. You see something new each time you go.
While looking at these photos I can almost hear the silence. Winter in New England is a very special time.